Great singing...but they're after passion

I HAVE to admit I was a little starry-eyed after my Mackay audition for Australian Idol on Thursday, smiling to myself as I drove home.

The day began with a quick trip to Terry White Chemists where Tiesha Craig applied my Chanel make-up, glamming me up with a little sparkling eye shadow to get me in the mood for the stage.

I left the Daily Mercury to a chorus of good lucks and arrived at the ground zero - the conservatorium - early.

I saw a few people scattered outside the building, strumming guitars and nervously pacing up and down.

I walked inside, filled in the registration forms, got my wristband with my number and mentioned it had been pre-arranged for our photographer Tony Martin to accompany me into the audition to get some pics for this story.

I was lucky enough to be third to audition, ahead of many die-hard hopefuls who had been lined up for hours.

I had to sing in front of two judges - executive producer Greg Beness and co-executive producer Suzanne Mitchell.

The funny thing is I wasn't even nervous - not even when it felt like I was eye-ball to eye-ball with the judges.

I introduced myself and started talking about my musical background with Greg and Suzanne.

For some reason Suzanne asked me to “calm down” at the beginning, possibly thinking I was going to get too excited.

Her no-nonsense approach made me think she had seen more than her fair share of hysterical women audition - rest assured I wasn't one of them!

They asked me why I wanted to audition for Idol and I said it was mostly due to the Daily Mercury editor wanting someone to write a story about the experience.

As I sang an a capella version of Sway, by Bic Runga they watched me intently while I made eye-contact with both judges. Suzanne literally looked me up and down which was slightly amusing.

It went down fairly well - both judges agreed I sang very well but I lacked expression or passionate performance delivery. They wanted the “wow factor”- not just great singing.

We spoke a bit about the interpretation of the song. I politely disagreed with their opinion and explained why and they didn't mind at all. Then, out of nowhere, Greg asked if I could sing some opera because he recognised a classical element to my voice.

I was taken aback and couldn't think of anything to sing, explaining I am not a trained opera singer so they canned that idea and gave me another go to impress them.

The first song to come to mind was Cold Chisel's Choir Girl but again they said I needed to convey more emotion in my voice.

I agreed, saying it was a weakness of mine to be conservative in my performance delivery and probably a legacy of having a traditional church music background.

Surprisingly Greg asked if I was going to audition again next year. I didn't commit but instead said I'd “see what happens”.

I candidly explained to him I didn't consider myself to be “Idol material” and he disagreed.

He encouraged me to get more performance experience so I could improve and even shook my hand at the end.

I left the audition on a high, causing some people to curiously ask if I made it through to the Brisbane audition.

I didn't, but was very grateful for the judges' honest opinion and encouragement.

Even though I didn't get through I am not fazed.

In fact, I'm slightly relieved because it would have been hard to be picked apart by the judges with thousands of people watching!

I'm also looking forward to watching the next season of Idol from the safety and comfort of my own lounge room.